Patent 7591907 was granted and assigned to Applied Materials on September, 2009 by the United States Patent and Trademark Office.
In one embodiment, an apparatus for performing an atomic layer deposition (ALD) process is provided which includes a chamber body containing a substrate support, a lid assembly attached to the chamber body, a remote plasma system (RPS) in fluid communication with the reaction zone, a centralized expanding conduit extending through the lid assembly and expanding radially outwards, a first gas delivery sub-assembly configured to deliver a first process gas, and a second gas delivery sub-assembly configured to deliver a second process gas into the centralized expanding conduit. The first gas delivery sub-assembly contains an annular channel encircling and in fluid communication with the centralized expanding conduit, wherein the annular channel is adapted to deliver the first process gas through a plurality of passageways and nozzles and into the centralized expanding conduit. The second gas delivery sub-assembly contains a gas inlet in fluid communication to the centralized expanding conduit.